Do rising interest rates reduce returns on income investments? September 18, 2017 | City Talk Many will remember to their cost the infamous “taper tantrum” in June 2013. It was the moment Ben Bernanke, the then Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, indicated that the quantitative easing (QE) would be scaled back, or tapered. The QE programme had fed money into the financial system to stimulate the economy following the [...]
Thought millennials went crazy for avocados? Meet Generation Z September 15, 2017 If you thought Generation Y were a bunch of avocado-obsessed health-freaks, you ain’t seen nothing yet: it turns out Generation Z, their even younger counterparts, eat 226 per cent more avocados than their predecessors. Research by Barclays reveals today’s students are shunning traditional university pursuits – drinking, smoking, etc – in favour of quitting smoking [...]
Thought millennials went crazy for avocados? Meet Generation Z September 15, 2017 If you thought Generation Y were a bunch of avocado-obsessed health-freaks, you ain’t seen nothing yet: it turns out Generation Z, their even younger counterparts, eat 226 per cent more avocados than their predecessors. Research by Barclays reveals today’s students are shunning traditional university pursuits – drinking, smoking, etc – in favour of quitting smoking [...]
The decline of farmers and the demise of the ‘knocker-upper’ – history’s lesson on automation September 12, 2017 | City Talk For a striking example of the impact technological advances can have on whole industries, consider the fate of the humble knocker-upper. During the 19th century and a surprising portion of the 20th, these folk would, for a minimal fee, wake you up in time for work, tapping on your bedroom window with a suitably long [...]
Speechwriters, take a leaf out of Donald Tusk’s book September 5, 2017 I have a crush on Donald. No, not that Donald: not the illiterate, illiberal charlatan with a knack for whiny 5am tweets. The subject of my thoughts is the President of the European Council Donald Tusk. And my crush is strictly professional: I think he is one of the most skilled communicators around. This is [...]
Solar, bitcoin, tech, Tesla and tea: seven important investment charts from August September 5, 2017 | City Talk Each month, writers at Schroders pull together the most intriguing charts of the month. Solar production eclipsed (briefly) The US came to a standstill on 21 August as people looked skyward to witness a remarkable solar eclipse. But as the moon blocked the sun it also temporarily blocked solar energy production. California aims to generate [...]
The company profits at risk from rising carbon prices September 5, 2017 | City Talk The extent to which company profits and investor returns could be at risk from tougher climate policies and higher carbon prices has been set out by a new model developed by Schroders. The “Carbon Value at Risk” (Carbon VaR) framework, developed by the Sustainable investment team, highlights the inadequacies of traditional measures of climate risk [...]
How tobacco stocks could now be damaging to your wealth September 4, 2017 | City Talk A month has now passed since tobacco businesses – and their share prices – were sent reeling by a US regulatory announcement. So what was the news that, for example, wiped out all the gains British American Tobacco had made in the first half of this year? Was it perhaps about to become illegal to [...]
Inflation is back and shouldn’t be ignored August 31, 2017 | City Talk When you factor in inflation you will need to save much more than you might think. Not long ago, the biggest fear of central bankers across major economies was deflation. Policy after policy has been introduced to ward off this risk. More recently we have seen inflation pick up, particularly in the UK where sterling’s [...]
The future of shopping malls and what it means for property investors August 30, 2017 | City Talk The growth of e-commerce is reshaping the retail world. Online sales have been growing globally at an annual rate of close to 25% in recent years. This holds ramifications for the world’s shopping centres and malls as retailers re-evaluate their ‘bricks and mortar’ store strategies. Investors in commercial real estate funds, which often own retail [...]
